Calming a niger trigger

black42

black42

New Member
I have a 155 gallon reef setup with about 80lbs of live rock. I have a 5" niger trigger, a 5" naso tang, a 3" true perc, a 4" copperband butterfly, (3)1" green chromis, (2) 1.5" cardinals,a 2" royal gramma and a cleaner shrimp. My niger trigger is a bully. He doesn't bother any of my corals (all soft) & he loves the cleaner shrimp. He doesn't bother most of the fish, but I added a true perc pair & he killed the smaller male & I thought he was going to kill the 3" female. I added the Naso & he left the clown alone. Now he is all over the butterfly fish & has really started to tear into its fins. The butterfly fish & the trigger were added together & they got along fine until recently. Is there anything I can do to calm the trigger down?
 
spongeycrab

spongeycrab

Member
I have a 155 gallon reef setup with about 80lbs of live rock.  I have a 5" niger trigger, a 5" naso tang, a 3" true perc, a 4" copperband butterfly, (3)1" green chromis, (2) 1.5" cardinals,a 2" royal gramma and a cleaner shrimp.  My niger trigger is a bully.  He doesn't bother any of my corals (all soft) & he loves the cleaner shrimp.  He doesn't bother most of the fish, but  I added a true perc pair & he killed the smaller male & I thought he was going to kill the 3" female. I added the Naso & he left the clown alone.  Now he is all over the butterfly fish & has really started to tear into its fins.  The butterfly fish & the trigger were added together & they got along fine until recently. Is there anything I can do to calm the trigger down? 
Yikes, you added a fish after a trigger that's your problem especially fish that small. Triggers are very territorial so adding anything after them is a bad idea.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Take the trigger out for a week or two if you can and keep him in a holding tank. Basically, he needs a "time out".
If you can not remove him, you can try blocking off part of the tank and keeping just him in there for a week or so. They sell tank dividers in many LFS's.
I've gone as far as just taking a fish out and putting him in a 5g water change bucket for a few hours for a time out and that was enough to make them cool it.
While the fish is out of the tank, I'd rearrange some rock work so it's not "his" territory anymore.
 
black42

black42

New Member
Thanks! I appreciate the advice. It might be difficult to catch the trigger, but if I can I can set up a 10 gallon tank to hold him for a week or so. If I plan to add any fish, I would assume that when he is out is the best time to add them? I did read after I purchased the trigger that I should have bought him last. The pet store did not tell me that. I clearly explained my set up and my plans & they said he would be fine.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by black42 http:///t/394316/calming-a-niger-trigger#post_3509724
Thanks! I appreciate the advice. It might be difficult to catch the trigger, but if I can I can set up a 10 gallon tank to hold him for a week or so. If I plan to add any fish, I would assume that when he is out is the best time to add them? I did read after I purchased the trigger that I should have bought him last. The pet store did not tell me that. I clearly explained my set up and my plans & they said he would be fine.
Unfortunately most pet stores don't care about you, your fish, or your tank. You're a walking dollar sign to them. I'm still shocked by the things I've heard LFS employees tell customers over the years.
Yes, any other fish that you'd want to add, now would be the time to do it. If he's going to be out for awhile, you might want to give him a 20-30G given how big he already is. Possibly trade him into the fish store for a smaller one that you can add last when you're ready?
 
black42

black42

New Member
I wasn't planning on purchasing him. I actually never consider this fish, because I thought he was not reef safe. I saw him & he was a beautiful fish and the pet shop said he would be fine. They did say he might harm some inverts & nip at polyps, but after seeing the fish I was willing to make that sacrifice. Do you think he would be fine in a 10 gallon for a week? Other than that, I could put him in a storage tub, but I thought that might freak him out. In the holding tank, I was going to do the following - fill it with water from the main tank, add a heater, some gravel substrate that I have, an airstone, & tomorrow purchase a cheap filter to get me by. Does that sound good?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I wasn't planning on purchasing him. I actually never consider this fish, because I thought he was not reef safe. I saw him & he was a beautiful fish and the pet shop said he would be fine. They did say he might harm some inverts & nip at polyps, but after seeing the fish I was willing to make that sacrifice. Do you think he would be fine in a 10 gallon for a week? Other than that, I could put him in a storage tub, but I thought that might freak him out. In the holding tank, I was going to do the following - fill it with water from the main tank, add a heater, some gravel substrate that I have, an airstone, & tomorrow purchase a cheap filter to get me by. Does that sound good?
If the storage tub is larger, I'd go that route and keep him in there. A 5" trigger isn't going to do well in a 10g tank. other than that, yeah, you should be fine. Maybe give him a rock from the main tank if possible. I wouldn't even worry about substrate.
 
black42

black42

New Member
I appreciate the advise. Thanks! I will take him out & get his "time-out" tank set up this weekend. Hopefully I can catch him.
 
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